New York City Ballet @ SPAC, 7/14/2012

New York City Ballet principal dancers Tiler Peck and Tyler Angle in “Two Hearts,” July 14, 2012 at SPAC. (Joseph Putrock/Special to the Times Union

New York City Ballet’s Ballet-Master-in-Chief Peter Martins, left, choreographer Justin Peck and SPAC Executive Director Marcia White at the Ballet Gala, July 14, 2012. (Joseph Putrock/Special to the Times Union)

New York City Balllet principal dancers Tiler Peck and Tyler Angle in the “Two Hearts,” July 14, 2012 at SPAC. (Joseph Putrock/Special to the Times Union)

SARATOGA SPRINGS – Bravo, New York City Ballet.
Saturday’s gala performance was of the caliber that reminds people what the world’s premiere classical dance company is all about and why it’s a cultural treasure the Capital Region should fight to keep for years to come.
The program’s three new ballets – one world premiere and two Saratoga premieres – showed off the company’s versatility, technical prowess and trademark musicality. They also underscored the vital role that new work plays in energizing and propelling an artistic enterprise forward – not to mention keeping it relevant. It made for an exciting night to be in the theater.
Justin Peck’s “In Creases,” the first world premiere from City Ballet at SPAC in 25 years, was a fountain of ideas, beautifully realized, all packed into about 15 minutes. Four women (Emilie Gerrity, Birtanny Pollack, Gretchen Smith, Lydia Wellington) and four men (Robert Fairchild, Taylor Stanley, Sean Suozzi and Christian Tworzyanski), dressed simply in pale gray dresses and tights, danced in a never predictable array of groupings emanating from and always returning to center stage.
They swirl around like a building storm at the dance’s opening in response to music from the first and third movements of Philip Glass’ Four Movements for Two Pianos, performed by Elaine Chelton and Alan Moverman at grand pianos placed yin-yang at the back of stage center.
The movement hews closely to the music, a visual interpretation of its nuanced rhythms. At one point dancers are lined up at center slicing their arms through space in angular ports de bras to piano bass line. At another, they’re cascading in a circle propelled by the melody. Completely unexpected was a passage where a few dancers hopped over their cohorts who were lying on stage, not unlike a football player running through a row of tires in a practice drill.
While as a whole it’s a very egalitarian ballet emphasizing the community of performers rather than individuals, Fairchild stood out in a few solo turns punctuated by breathtaking jumps and precise footwork.
If this dance is any measure, Peck, 24, a member of the troupe’s corps de ballet, is at the beginning of a promising career as a dance maker.
Also on the program were two noteworthy dances that were premiered earlier this year in New York City.
“Two Hearts,” choreographed by former company member Benjamin Millepied was a kinetic tour de force. It opened the evening with burst of energy, boldness and modernity to gorgeous wide-ranging music by Nico Muhly, conducted by Andrews Sill.
Principal couple Tiler Peck and Tyler Angle shone throughout on a stage they shared with six men and six women. The dance grows from Angle’s opening solo as he’s joined by his male counterparts, entering singly and in pairs, dancing in canon then unison. It’s a choreographic approach that echoes throughout the 25-minute dance that builds at times to a high-energy, high-fashion urban pulse. It’s all clad in striking white costumes accented with wide bands of black by Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte.
Peck – at the pinnacle of her artistry – and Angle were exquisite in pas de deux that were laced throughout the work. They were tender and searching, dancing expansively as he supported her in stretching lifts and glides across the floor.
The performance closed with the most thematically traditional work of the night, Former company member Christopher Wheeldon’s “Les Carillon,” set to Georges Bizet’s L’Arlesienne Suites Nos. 1 and 2, conducted by Clotilde Otranto. Dressed in deep jewel tones by Mark Zappone before an abstract scenic drop by Jean-Marc Puissant that evokes perhaps an old castle, it features five principal couples along with five women and five men.
A contemporary take on the royal court dance that sometimes ventures to the town square, it’s a sweeping dance filled with heroic flourishes. On this night, the ensemble displayed the company’s remarkable artistic depth.
It was a privilege to be in the audience on this night. It was the kind of performance that keeps the balletomanes coming back again and again, and, one hopes, entices the neophytes to join them.

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Those NYCB fans who want to see the Ballet restored to at least two weeks and longer:

The next Save the Ballet Committee meeting will take place on Monday, July 16th, at 6:30 PM. The location is Market Center, 55 Railroad Place, Apt 414, Saratoga Springs.

At least four topics will be raised, with a goal of approaching the SPAC Board:

1. Urge NYS Parks and Rec to undertake a new audit of SPAC, and especially to examine the sweetheart deal between SPAC and Live Nation.

2. Urge SPAC to cut one week from the PO residency and give it to the NYCB, on the concept that sacrifice is shared equally among the two main SPAC resident companies.

3. Urge SPAC to reduce ticket prices to $50 and below, following on the inflation statistics compiled by Don Drewecki, comparing 2012 prices to 1966 and noting huge increases well beyond the rate of inflation.

4. Urge SPAC to restore quality to its offerings by eliminating Hollywood films and trapeze acts from the PO schedule.